Delhi court seeks police's response on bail plea of match-fixing accused Sanjeev Chawla

A Delhi court on Monday asked Crime Branch of Delhi Police to file its response on the bail plea filed by Sanjeev Chawla, who was extradited to India for his alleged involvement in a cricket match-fixing racket that was busted in 2000.

Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Purshottam Pathak sought Delhi Police's response on the plea.

Chawla, in his application filed through advocates Vineet Malhotra and Hemant Shah, said that "the conditions in the jail are not hygienic and there is a threat of coronavirus in the jail".

"Therefore, in view of the imminent threat of epidemic in the jail, hence he prays his release on bail," it said.

Chawla submitted that he is a British national and has never earlier been involved in any criminal case of any kind whatsoever and has absolutely clean antecedents. He also cited his deep roots in society and said that he belongs to a respectable family.

He also said that he had been in electronic monitoring since June 19, 2016 and that curfew has been electronically monitored.

"That effectively, in terms of custody/sentence, the applicant (Chawla) has already served 1,339 days in curfew in terms of the provisions of Section 240A of the Criminal Justice Act 2003, which is the applicable law in the UK, of which the applicant is a citizen," the bail plea said.

"Besides serving 1,339 days in effective custody in terms of Section 240A of Criminal Justice Act 2003, the applicant has already served 669 days in custody in London and more than 35 days in India till the filing of the present bail application," it added.

Earlier, Chawla had also challenged the custodial remand given by the Patiala House Court in the case. The match-fixing racket was busted by the Delhi Police in 2000.

The accused had challenged the custodial remand on the grounds that it was against the extradition treaty signed between the UK and India.